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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Please explain a little about your shop, what items you sell and what inspired you in your product and shop design?

I'm a fine art photographer. I started as a filmmaker and found a love of still photography while studying cinematography in college. I bought my first still camera and have been shooting ever since. It's very calming to me to shoot, I get the same peace others talk about with yoga and meditation thru photography. And unlike filmmaking and writing, I can think of an idea and see it realized really quickly, or simply be in the right place at the right time when inspiration hits. It's fulfilling to be able to create that way. My subject matter has spanned a wide range over the last twenty years. I have enjoyed people photogrpahy including photojournalism, nature photography, Americana, city architecture, and most recently experimental and abstract photography.

Have you had a positive sellers experience on Etsy?

I've had all positive experiences so far on Etsy. It's important to me to provide the best product I can, that's why for everything over an 8x10, I use a fine art printer instead of a big box printer. I print on archival photography paper and cold press matte 90% of the time. The difference in quality is night and day.

What are your goals for your business short & long term?

My short term goals are to continue growing my etsy shop and launch my website in March or April. Long term, I am working on having my photography shown in galleries this year and planning a trip to Paris to shoot.

How did you come up with your shop name?

My main photography shop is my name Tiffany Dawn Smith. I have a secondary shop named Peppermint Creek Photo. That shop name came to me where all great ideas are born - the shower. I was thinking about Christmas and hiking and the name was born. I'm working on moving all my softer and pastel photography into Peppermint Creek Photo.

What kind of space do you create in?

I spend about half my time shooting and half my time editing. I edit in my home office with movie soundtracks, tea and my cat on my lap. I shoot just about everywhere I go. I almost always have my camera on me.

Where are you located?

I just recently relocated to Orange Park, Florida. I've moved over 40 times, but the southwest is where I call home

Do you ship internationally?

Of course I ship internationally. :) I love the thought of my photography being in private collections around the world.

What is your favorite food?

My favorite foods are popcorn and coffee, but not together. ;)

What are your hobbies?

I love a great story and am a huge movie fan and reader. I also enjoy travelling and meeting new people. I can't go to a new place without leaving with a new photo and a new friend.

Please name one of your favorite fellow Team Serenity Shops?

One of my favorite shops from Team Serenity is Danielle Nash's Sailors Ravine Studio. She's an outstanding photographer.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Please explain a little about your shop, what items you sell and what inspired you in your product and shop design?

I began Sweetchild Jewelry in 2007. I make polymer clay jewelry like pins and necklaces, religious items such as rosaries and mezuzahs, and accessories like barrettes. I also make focal beads and bead sets. I have been a K-12 art teacher, quilt maker, and a cross stitch designer, and began working with polymer clay in 2006. Once I learned how to condition the clay with a pasta machine, I was on my way. I tried PC because the work of others intrigued me. It is so versatile – you can stamp it, ink it, roll, extrude, slab-build, silk-screen, and create very finely detailed canes with it. Every PC artist’s work looks different because of this versatility.

As for shop design, Marilyn of www.Accentuate.etsy.com created my most recent banner and avatar. I chose it because its small, pieced patterns reminded my of polymer clay canework. I arrange my shop items according to color to create shop cohesiveness and visual flow. I use fotofuze.com to create those lovely pure white backgrounds in my photos.

Have you had a positive sellers experience on Etsy?

I generally have had very good experiences on Etsy with buyers. I have also had life-changing experiences of friendship and growth with other Etsy sellers who supported me, taught me, and promoted my work just because that is what good team mates on Etsy do. Promoting one another is key to Etsy success. Join one or two very active teams like Team Serenity www.etsy.com/teams/12408/team-serenity, and then promote one another like crazy.

What are your goals for your business short & long term?

This year I hope to increase the complexity and beauty of my canework. I have also been approached by several local shops that want to carry my work, so I am making some forays into wholesaling. I just completed 20 Jewish mezuzahs and house blessing cases to be shipped to a shop in St. Augustine, Florida. And one of my pendants will soon appear in The Polymer Arts magazine.

How did you come up with your shop name?

My last name, Soskin, actually means “seuss kind” or “sweet child” in Yiddish and German. So my shop became Sweetchild Jewelry. My jewelry is not for children though.

5. What kind of space do you create in?

I work in my grown daughter’s vacant bedroom. In that room I have my computer desk where I do all my shop-related mail and promoting, and opposite that is a huge old executive size desk is my clay table. Its drawers hold my clay, bead and tool stashes. Its surface is stacked with shelving, units of tiny drawers and bottles that hold all my findings, glues, and more. I work on a marble slab. Pantone color chips are displayed. I use a long arm light that can be moved around. It has an OttLite bulb which imitates daylight so I formulate proper colors. I wish I had a giant studio with lots and lots of room to spread out, but alas!

Where are you located?

My studio is in my house in a quiet suburb of northeast Orlando, in Oviedo. My husband is a prof at the University of Central Florida, and we live 20 minutes from campus.

Do you ship internationally?

Yes.

What is your favorite food?

Chocolate.

What are your hobbies?

I read a lot of history – Doris Kearns Goodwin and Sarah Vowell never disappoint. I play piano. I love Russian art. Several years ago we took our first trip overseas – to St. Petersburg, Russia, a marvelous city full of art, cathedrals, museums, and palaces. I also do a lot of church work – choir, church librarian, prayer shawl ministry leader, and bible study leader. I am always teaching in one way or another. Education is very important to me.

Please name one of your favorite fellow Team Serenity Shops?

There are so many! Take a peek at Magicmaker-Scraps (unique clip art), REcreationsyarn (crocheted animals to win any child’s heart), and SewandTellHandmade (stylish foldover clutches).

Thursday, January 1, 2015

I started Team Serenity in April 2012, and I have new things in store for 2015!
I will be culling down members starting Jan. 1, 2015 and removing inactive members and shops that have closed.

Team Requirements:
1. The most important one is being able to cross promote at least on a monthly basis, I recommend weekly.
2. Also we do require nice photographed items, they don't need to be magazine ready, but we do not allow out of focus photos which do not showcase the item. Items will be shared on all our social media and you will be representing our team. We need cohesive nicely photographed items.
3. Yearly Team Check- in, each year I will start a new thread for all members to check in and if I or the leaders do not hear from you and you haven't had activity for months you will be removed.NEW for 2015
- The first thing I have decided to do is instead of having a monthly featured shop I will have a quarterly featured shop. Each quarter a new shop will be chosen and featured on the blog. I recommend each member reading about their shop and sharing it so we can get it seen.
If you would like your shop to be considered for this featured please post in the appropriate Etsy thread. https://www.etsy.com/teams/12408/team-serenity/discuss/14003463/?ref=team_page

Thursday, December 11, 2014

December Shop Feature!!

JanTink!!!

Click on banner to shop!

1. Please explain a little about your shop and what items you sell and what inspired you in your product and shop design?

I started my shop as a way to deal with the large amounts of cards I create as samples for my other business, which is as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I love to make cards, but I'm not very good at sending them to other people, at least in the amounts that I make them, so I have a lot of cards! I decided the best way to deal with this was to sell them on Etsy, and now I have gotten to the point where I am now making cards just for that purpose. I am a perfectionist, so I only sell my very best work, and I am very picky about the details of my products and making sure they arrive at the customer's house in perfect condition.

My shop design was done digitally in My Digital Studio, which is digital scrapbooking software that I bought from Stampin' Up! I designed the banner as well as my shop blog banner and Facebook banner this way. I went for a vintage look, harking back to the days when everyone corresponded by mail and bundles of letters or cards would be tied up with ribbons and stored for someone to look through whenever they wanted to experience the good memories that went with them.

2. Have you had a positive sellers experience on Etsy?

I've had a very positive experience on Etsy. I like how supportive Etsy is and how much they try to help you make the most of your business. I love how there is a community here, and the ability to join teams to help boost each others' businesses. I belong to a number of teams, but I have to say that Team Serenity has been the best one I've belonged to in terms of the amount of team work and the great leadership!

3. What are your goals for your business short & long term?

My short-term goal is to reduce my inventory of cards. Long-term, I'd like to get to the point where I make enough between my two business to buy all my toys for my hobby of stamping as well as have the leisure to do nothing but make cards and other things to sell.

4. What kind of space do you create in?

I create my cards sitting at my grandmother's chrome dinette table, which I first inherited from a sibling when I got my first apartment, and it has moved with me ever since. It used to be the table we ate dinner at, but now it's where I create papercrafts in a room in the basement where I have all my stamps, punches, dies, paper, ink pads, etc. People can be quite overwhelmed when they walk in this room when they see all my "toys"!

5. Where are you located?

I am located in Redford, Michigan, a small suburb outside of Detroit.

6. Do you ship internationally?

I do ship internationally.

7. How did you come up with your shop name?

My shop name "JanTink" is the name I selected for my first user name on AOL in 1996. It is a shorted form of my name, and when I started being a stamping demonstrator and had my own blog, it really became my name. My real first name is Janine, and people started calling me Jan because they knew me as Jan Tink, and I've grown used to it. In fact, if you google "Jan Tink" or "JanTink" you'll find almost every hit refers to me. It seemed natural to go with that when I created my Etsy shop.

8. Please name one of your favorite fellow Team Serenity Shops?

One of my favorite Team Serenity shops is The Owl Shoppe. I love handmade felt items, and hers are super cute!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

1. Please explain a little about your shop, what items you sell and what inspired you in your product and shop design? How did you come up with your shop name?

Relaxation time. for me, is something to be treasured, a time to do something I really enjoy. But I am one of those that can't sit idle and just watch TV or read - I have to always be doing something else too. My grandmother (Nana) taught me to knit, crochet, and sew as a little girl, and I always seemed to have a project (or 3, or 4) in progress next to my chair at night. Now I can usually be found on the sofa, with my pet baby "Emmy" (a non-shedding Havanese puppy) on my lap, crocheting my fingers off to supply my shop.

My shop actually started on a whim. In the years since we moved to Door County, our family has grown to include 3 beautiful granddaughters. I started making little treasures for my granddaughters to enjoy - doll clothes, hats, scarves, pillows and the like. They loved my little treats and were always eager to see what "Nana" had made for them since their last visit. I figured that if my friends and family liked my finished products, maybe others would too. Having been an avid Etsy shopper, I decided to try my hand at a store on Etsy. The origin of my shop name was simple - ask any of my granddaughters where Nana was when they were first learning to talk and they would tell you - "Nana in Door.".

2. Have you had a positive sellers experience on Etsy?

I love the handmade, homegrown atmosphere on Etsy. The shop started small, and hopefully will grow to heavenly proportions. It's like shopping at your own private boutique, with the largest selection of unique items anywhere worldwide. Anyone that purchases an item from an Etsy store is supporting a small business. I am thrilled to report that I have had a very successful October thus far - with a sale every single day! It makes me feel proud to know that others love what I do and are willing to support my small business.

Now that I am part of the Etsy team, I am very proud to be in this group of talented artisans. And I hope my little treasures will make you smile!

3. What are your goals for your business short & long term?

I would love for my shop to be able to support my lifestyle. That's everyone's long range goal. For now, I just want to be able to support my habit - shopping for yarn! The lifestyle thing will come in time.

5. Where are you located?

When my husband and I moved to Door County, WI, we were supposed to be slowing down to "smell the roses" and enjoy life. Well, he's still working from home, and I'm still driving to work.

Please list all your social media sites below:

Besides my Etsy shop link - www.etsy.com/shop/NanainDoor

I also have a Facebook page

www.facebook.com/nanaindoor

and a Twitter Account

twitter.com/doornana

and a Pintrest account

www.pinterest.com/dkwegner/

where I post all my favorite treasuries, Etsy items, and other stuff I can't ;live without at the moment.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

1. Please explain a little about your shop, what items you sell and what inspired you in your product and shop design?

Created by Vanessa started from a suggestion that was made by my oldest son's girlfriend. Sarah was visiting us with Chad and saw an item that I was making for a family member and said, "You should sell your crocheting on Etsy!" At the time, I had no clue what Etsy even was. I also have to credit Sarah with the name of the shop.

I find myself constantly searching for different items to crochet for the shop. There are so many crochet shops on Etsy, that I feel that I have to go beyond the norm and feature as many diverse items as I can. So along with the normal crochet items, expect to see more and more different products being offered. I have lots of ideas. I just need the time to make them.

2. Have you had a positive sellers experience on Etsy?

I have had very positive feedback from my buyers and a lot of returning buyers which really makes me feel really good. I have actually had buyers express surprise at the high quality of the products that they receive from me.

3. What are your goals for your business short & long term?

My main goal for the future is to expand the shops size and bring in more variety. I would like to have about 100 to 150 items in the shop which means at least doubling it in size. That seems like a lot when you are also working a forty hour day job. I have thought of adding another crocheter along with myself but I'm afraid of losing control of the quality of the items and that would be too large of a price to pay for quantity in my opinion.

4. Where are you located?

We are located in the foothills of the Adirondack mountain in upstate New York. It's a peaceful little community and a great place to create especially during the cold winters when I really feel like hibernating.

5. Do you ship internationally?

At this time, I am not shipping internationally. I have in the past but due to lack of time, I've backed off from it. I might have to reconsider it sometime in the future.

6. Please name one of your favorite fellow Team Serenity Shops?

I really love Etsy and all the wonderful shops it has but like all of us, I have a couple of personal favorites. One of my favorites is our own Harmony5. Jennifer has a fantastic shop that I absolutely love. Her earrings tempt me time and time again. I'm really excited to see that she's getting into necklaces now too. I have several pair of Harmony5 earrings in my jewelry box and I have my eye on several other pieces. I also admire her dedication to her team. She works tirelessly for all of us and I know I owe a lot of my own success to her. Thanks, Jenn, for all that you do for us!